Kimberly Sams Gray serves as Secretary and Executive Director of the Southern States Energy Board (SSEB) and CEO of Southern Energy and Environmental Center, Inc., overseeing the organization’s strategic direction, programs, operations, and financial and organizational stewardship.

Over her three decades with SSEB, Kimberly has built trusted relationships with governors’ offices, legislative leaders, regulators, state energy officials, university leadership, federal agencies, industry executives, and technology developers across the South. These relationships enable the Board to engage key decision-makers and strengthen its ability to convene stakeholders, build consensus, advance member-state priorities, and deploy innovative technologies.

She has helped develop and lead a cumulative portfolio exceeding $1 billion in state, federal, and public-private energy, environmental, and economic development initiatives, delivered through partnerships with states, universities, industry, national laboratories, and local communities. She oversees this portfolio, assigning project responsibility across the organization while ensuring strategic alignment and accountability. As a geologist, she has led multidisciplinary teams spanning state agencies, utilities, engineering firms, universities, national laboratories, regulatory and legal professionals, and community-based networks, grounded in service, stewardship, collaboration, and investment in people.

Kimberly’s most significant achievement was serving as Co-Principal Investigator for the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB), a 20+ year, $400+ million initiative and one of seven U.S. Department of Energy regional partnerships nationwide. Under SSEB’s leadership, the partnership pioneered new approaches to carbon management, producing best-practices guidance that continues to inform project development across the country today.

She regularly advises governors’ offices, legislators, state agencies, and regulators, translating complex technical and policy issues into actionable briefings, reports, and presentations for audiences ranging from Members of Congress to industry executives and community stakeholders.

Kimberly holds a B.S. in Geology from Georgia State University and a Project Management Certificate from Georgia State’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business. She remains committed to preserving SSEB’s mission-driven culture while positioning it to meet emerging challenges facing member states and territories.